What Matters - Episode 30 - Rocket to Community with Chris DeMars

In this episode of What Matters, PJ sits down with Dan Moore, Head of DevRel for FusionAuth, to discuss the importance of authentication to organizational security, open source authentication options, and whether blockchain has a future as an auth tool. 

Nailing DevOps might seem like an exercise in hiring the right people or getting the right tools — but successful DevOps journeys need to start with the right team culture. CircleCI Developer Advocate Angel Rivera joins PJ to discuss the importance of developing a collaborative DevOps culture, embracing failure, and understanding how the industry is changing. 

Does DevOps make things too easy, or does it abstract away so much that it makes developers' work harder in the long run? In this episode, PJ sits down with Kat Cosgrove, Developer Advocate for Pulumi, to talk about the evolution of DevOps tools, how infrastructure as code (or software) helps bring devs and ops teams closer together, and the mainstreaming of open source.     

We know what the Open Source and Startup world is like - but what about Community work in the enterprise?   PJ sits down with Chris DeMars to talk about how Rocket Mortgage engages with folks on the Open Source front, the community front, and also on Chris' passion, the #a11y front.

What makes Cloud First development so prevalent? If it's not the new hotness, why is it still how we get things done  when deploying apps? And where does Kubernetes and Docker fit in to all of this? In this episode, PJ sits down with Cloud Native Engineer and founder of CloudSpeakers.dev, James D Bohrman to talk Cloud's past, present, and future. And to hear more about the present, we are joined by Ben Lloyd Pearson with his most recent Open Source News update!

What comes to mind when you hear the word accessibility? Users with disabilities? Blind folks trying to access web applications? The deaf community? All these people may come to mind when thinking of accessibility, but to really get people on board, we need to think of the CEO one handing a mobile device while picking up a coffee in midtown Manhattan. We need to make it a personal story. In this episode, accessibility expert and consultant Adrian Roselli sits down with our host, PJ, to discuss not just why we need accessible applications, but also how to get started and some easy tips and tools to use. This episode also features Ben Lloyd Pearson with the Open Source News. We chat about AI platforms for 3D printing, scholarships at the OpenSSF, and Open Source licensing issues at a TV company and from a former President.

We've been spending time building a better piece of collaboration software and in this episode we are going to go behind the curtain to talk to the Product Team and see what folks can expect from Mattermost 6.0! Katie Wiersgalla, Ian Tao, Eric Sethna, Chen Lim, and Aaron Rothchild join PJ to discuss everything new to the platform and all the features you've been waiting to see!

Starting on a new technology can be a daunting task. Sometimes, having other people along for the ride can make that easier. In this special episode, Elias Nahum and Miguel Altazar sit down to talk a bit about how they got started using React Native, what they learned during their journey, and how they helped each other every step of the way.

What motivates you on a daily basis? Something internal that drives you to take the reins and get to work? Something external like capital gain or fame? Maybe it's achieving a goal, like releasing the 25th episode of a podcast! In the latest episode of What Matters, PJ sits down with Zef Hemel, Engineering Lead at Mattermost and musing writer, to discuss different kinds of motivation and what works in Open Source and at Mattermost. Learn about how to motivate people properly and what pitfalls to avoid when looking at things like rewards. Some of the things Zef shared with us: No More Rewards - Zef's Blog Punishment By Rewards by Alfie Kohn Drive by Daniel Pink This episode also includes a visit from Ben Lloyd Pearson to share the Open Source News that Matters - featuring Github's new legal assistance program and cool projects from the folks at Facebook and Gitlab!

We often vaunt the greatness of Open Source and skirt some of the lesser seen issues while focusing on the greatness of the communities we are a part of. What is it like for solo maintainers? Can we set our expectations on people writing code on nights and weekends, people who have other aspects to their lives? How do we keep vulnerable people in Open Source safe? Fortunately, our guest for this episode, Penelope Phippen, has navigated these waters. Penelope is the maintainer of a rubyfmt, rspec, and is involved in Rust, while also working as a full-time engineer and on the Board of Directors at Ruby Central. That said, there is so much more to Penelope than her job description. Like her Battlesnake Twitch stream. Give a listen to someone with experience in so many aspects of the Open Source world.